NEWS BITES

PHILIP GREEN withdrew his offer for Marks & Spencer this week, seven weeks after initially revealing his plans to buy the ailing high street chain. "I prefer to have an M&S through rose-tinted spectacles than one that's green around the gills," said former M&S employee, Barry Hyman, during the company's shareholders' meeting at the Royal Festival Hall on Wednesday.[b] THE owners of a Gloucestershire cottage that Kate Moss apparently hired with Jefferson Hack for the christening party of their daughter Lila are claiming compensation. According to the Daily Mail, they say there was extensive damage to the property including soiled chairs and radiators hanging off the walls. Moss is unwilling to pay up, we're told.[b] HEATHER THOMSON, who helped P Diddy build his Sean John label before spending the last two years helping Jennifer Lopez with her J-Lo brand, has turned her attentions to Beyoncé Knowles' new fashion collection. [b] VOGUE's September 2004 US issue will be the largest in the history of the magazine. The annual fall fashion issue, one of the most highly anticipated issues of the year, will contain over 620 pages of advertisements (the previous record for ad pages was 619). Combined with an estimated 200-plus pages of editorial, the final page count could teeter well into the 850-plus page range. The issue will, again for the first time in its history, be bound as three separate issues in one. CONFLICTING rumours are circulating about the level of financial support that Formula One boss Flavio Briatore is giving ex-girlfriend and new mum, Heidi Klum. Briatore is reportedly telling pals that he gives his ex-love $50,000 a month to support her baby, Leni, but a friend of the supermodel says that he "doesn't give her a dime. They're not joint-parenting. They do not even speak." The friend added: "She's never asked him for a thing." Meanwhile, Klum's current love, Seal, has been proudly pushing the pram. "Seal has been amazing," Klum's friend declared. [b] FRENCH CONNECTION is to have its FCUK ads vetted for the next two years after a complaint about a poster campaign for the brand's radio station, FCUK FM, which read: 'FCUK FM. FROM PNUK TO RCOK AND BACK. NON STOP FNUK. FCUK FM'. The Advertising Standards Authority had already warned the company that it would ban ads that encouraged the implication of the four-letter expletive. A similar ruling was imposed in 2001 after the fcukinkybugger.com campaign. "Hopefully this time they'll learn their lesson," said an ASA spokesperson. [b] ROBERTO CAVALLI, whose last name means horses in Italian, not only raises horses, but has been collecting statues of them for most of his adult life. Now, however, Cavalli is putting his money where his name is and taking his passion to the next level: racing. This week, for the first time, Cavalli's horse, Love Money, not only raced at Milan's Hippodrome, but won. The jockey took his fashion cue from Cavalli and sported a leopard print jacket and beret. [b] LULU GUINNESS this week welcomed guests at her Bleecker Street boutique in New York to honour her participation in Contreau's "Cointreauversial" ad campaign. Warmed by Guinness' sangria (a powerful mixture of Remy Martin, Piper Heidsick, Cointreau, grape juice and fruit) and snacks from Da Silvano, guests including Charlotte Ronson, Lucy Sykes and her pregnant sister Alice spilled out of the tiny boutique and onto the sidewalk. Fifteen per cent of the sales inside were donated to Safe Space, a New York City charity for underprivileged and abused children.